E.l.f. Beauty posts first $1 billion year, but shares fall on weaker-than-expected guidance

E.l.f. Beauty posted its first billion-dollar fiscal year on Wednesday as sales spiked 77%, but the retailer's shares fell as it said it expects its growth to slow.

The eyes, lip, face company, known for its viral marketing and prowess in winning over younger consumers, issued guidance that came in lower than analysts had forecast.

Here is how E.l.f. Beauty did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

The company reported net income for the three-month period that ended March 31 was $14.53 million, or 25 cents per share, compared to $16.25 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, E.l.f. posted earnings of 53 cents per share. 

Sales rose to $321.1 million, up about 71% from $187.4 million a year earlier.

For the full year, the company's sales grew to $1.02 billion, an increase of 77% from the year-ago period.

E.l.f. Beauty has been on a tear over the past year, posting sales gains in the high double-digit percentages quarter after quarter as consumers flock to its low-priced beauty products either through its own website or at retailers such as Walmart and Target. 

In a statement, E.l.f. CEO Tarang Amin said he believes the company is still in the "early innings" of its growth story and expects more to come in cosmetics, skin care and in international markets. Its guidance reflects that sentiment, but even so, the company expects to grow at a slower pace than Wall Street anticipated. 

E.l.f. expects net sales to be between $1.23 billion and $1.25 billion, which would be an increase of 20% to 22%. That is below the $1.27 billion, or 27.4% uptick, that analysts had expected.

The company is forecasting adjusted net income to be